Sleepy Hollow: Go Where I Send Thee… Recap

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn4H0Tj2Jdo]

Sleepy Hollow: Go Where I Send Thee… (2×04)

Synopsis: Abbie, Ichabod, and Nick attempt to save a young girl’s life from the grasp of the Pied Piper. Meanwhile, Frank Irving fights for control of his soul from Henry.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

This week Sleepy Hollow brings the Pied Piper to life, a terrifying creature similar to the legendary monsters that we saw given life in season one. While season two has thus far primarily revolved around Henry and Moloch’s plans, it was nice to see the show once again revisit their twisted interpretations and recreations of the monsters we have only feared in legend.

A young girl named Sara Lancaster wanders aimlessly out of her home in the thick of the night, drawn by the melodic lullaby of a flute. Now this sounds eerily familiar….

It appears Abbie is trying to teach Ichabod how to drive a modern vehicle. However, it is clear that Ichabod may already have some expertise in that department, handling Abbie’s jeep like an expert drag racer. Albeit a little recklessly, as Abbie is seen gripping the safety handle of the car as grandmas usually do. It seems Jenny has already taught Ichabod to drive in her own illegal way. During the lesson, Ichabod receives an amber alert for the child, Sara. Sara’s mother, a friend and Abbie’s former caseworker when she was a child, believes her family is cursed.

Abbie and Ichabod head to the woods, desperate to pick up Sara’s trail. There they find blood splatter and a hollow bone, which is in fact an ancient flute capable of entrancing people with its high notes. Ichabod deduces that Sara was lured into the woods by a pied piper (this implies that there might be more than one of these evil assassins). Ichabod recounts the story of a man who lured an entire garrison into the woods with similar music only to kill them all. The two cannot figure out why the piper would take Sara though. In order to pinpoint the piper’s lair, Ichabod plays the flute to entrance Abbie. The summoning spell works, pulling Abbie closer to a figure they believe to be the piper, until it turns out to only be Nick Hawley. It seems Hawley had followed Sara into the forest while looking for the flute until the piper attacked him, leaving him wounded. Hawley has been searching for the flute for it is worth considerable value and claims there is still time to save the girl.

Apparently long ago, the Lancaster family was cursed and in every generation the piper lures a Lancaster girl on her 10^th birthday into the woods. The creepy part is that he uses their bones to create his multitude of musical instruments. Hawley still doesn’t believe the piper is real however, believing he was attacked by a man in a costume. What is it going to take for that man to become a believer? Abbie promises Hawley the flute if he helps them save Sara’s life.

The three of them find a seemingly abandoned underground cellar where the piper has locked Sara up. The piper is watching them though as they soon discover. He is one ugly fast moving son of a bitch. He literally looks similar to a dark albino elf with a white ponytail. The piper had sold his soul to a demon though, allowing him to move very quickly and without remorse. With skills reminiscent of the Flash and an expert swordsman, the piper engages Hawley and Ichabod in battle while Abbie works to save Sara. Using one of Hawley’s bombs, they manage to escape and blow the piper’s lair, giving them reprieve for the time being.

Following Sara’s rescue, Hawley demands the flute, claiming his part is done. Ichabod tries to force Hawley to see the true evil that was right in front of him, but he doesn’t seem very phased by it, claiming that is what the shot glass is for. I honestly think Hawley might be hiding something disturbing from his past that is forcing him to fight the truth of evil. He may be repressing those memories and refusing to believe in the existence of evil. Scoffing at Hawley’s stupidity, Abbie breaks the flute in front of him, claiming they would never have given him a weapon that powerful. They part ways, and Ichabod and Abbie are then able to reunite Sara with her family. They still have a pissed off pied piper to eliminate though.

Using historical records, Ichabod and Abbie discover that if the piper is denied his prize, all the children in the family will die. They race back to the Lancaster’s to find that the three other children have already been stricken with illness. Knowing this, Sara’s mother, Beth, faces the decision to sacrifice her daughter for the sake of her other children. Ichabod uses his extreme driving skills to reach Sara and Beth, who has pulled a gun on them. Abbie and Ichabod plead with Beth, claiming they will find another way to save all of her children and stop her curse. Finally seeing clearly, she drops her weapon, but the piper attacks shortly after. Abbie attempts to finish him with her gun, but the bullets seem to have little effect other than to make the piper flee. Ichabod gives chase and the two duke it out. Abbie is the one to make the final blow to the piper when Ichabod is crippled by the piper’s deadly weapons of sound. Gloating over their victory, Ichabod and Abbie share drinks together before heading off in search of their next mystery.

On the other side of town, it appears Hawley has been making deals with a shady businessman and his boss, selling the broken flute for a large sum of money. You can guess where this is going…. The buyer’s boss is none other than Henry who proceeds to break down the bone into fine pieces and then tastes it. John Noble continues to do a fascinating acting job of bringing Parrish’s creepy sadistic side to life.

Meanwhile back in Terrytown, Frank Irving has a startling vision of the future war after reading a passage from the bible. It appears in his vision that he is a weapon of the horseman’s, slaughtering innocent lives at his bidding. Irving confronts Henry, claiming he knows his true identity now. Henry counters his insubordination by threatening to cut off payments of assistance to his wife and child and indefinitely delaying his court hearing if Irving does not cooperate. He claims Abbie and Ichabod have only brought suffering to his life. Total bullshit Henry. Irving then discovers the truth of it all, that he has unwittingly signed his soul to Henry. At least now, he is aware of his unfortunate predicament.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG31QaZmMxw]